As your business ramps up after lockdown, investing in a COVID-19 health and safety policy now can protect your employees and pay dividends for at least the next few months. Following this guide can protect your coworkers and help prevent another lockdown due to an outbreak – it’s mutually beneficial.

Here, we’ll help you translate the CDC and OSHA COVID-19 guidelines into a plan of action that works for your specific situation, whether you’re looking to assess your current policy or create a new one from scratch.

Implementation Tip – Who Writes The Guidelines?

As the supervisor or boss, you are responsible for the safety and health of your employees in the workplace.

• your experience is valuable in creating guidelines that are tailored to your workplace and your needs

       AND

• your credibility is necessary to create a policy everyone can agree on and follow.

If you are unable to write the COVID-19 workplace guidelines yourself, make sure that you are heavily involved in the process and involve individuals who are qualified and experienced in health, safety, and human resources.

As a safety director, manager, or business owner, do you often feel that it's you against the employees  when it comes to safety? Do you want your employees to feel ownership and responsibility for not just their safety, but for everyone else's? 

This is where the DuPont Bradley Curve is helpful. It's a tool to help businesses shift their employees from following safety protocol because it's what is required, to a place where everyone from the top down is actively participating in the safety culture of the organization. Obviously, anytime someone is practicing safety is a positive, but it's even better if people are following protocol because they have a genuine desire to keep themselves and their coworkers safe. 

Are you intimidated or confused by OSHA’s requirements for recording and reporting incidents? Maybe you just had an incident and aren’t sure what to next. First off, take a deep breath. It will be ok. This post is meant to start answering your questions about recordables and reportables. We’ll break down both and help you understand who and what is required for each.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 570 people died from work-related injuries in agriculture in 2011. That’s 7 times the fatality rate for all workers in the private sector! Safety is an important topic in the agricultural industry. That being said, it’s no wonder OSHA has regulations that are meant to keep people safe specifically in agriculture. While some farms are exempt from OSHA regulations, did you know there are a few requirements that apply across the board? No matter if you employ 10 or less people total, or only employ immediate family, OSHA requires that both exempt and non-exempt operations abide by these rules.

Editor's Note: Updated Dec 18, 2017.  OSHA pushed back the deadline from Dec 15 to Dec 31, and has said they will not take enforcement action on those who meet the Dec 31 deadline (see source here).  Starting Jan 1, 2018, OSHA will no longer accept 2016 data.

Why would a big corporation’s safety culture model have any relevance to safety in Agriculture?  If you are not familiar with the DuPont Bradley Curve, I strongly suggest learning more about it as it can shape how you think about safety first and its effect on productivity, quality of work, the work environment and profitability. The Bradley Curve shows an evolution of an organization's safety culture. This model allows you to place your organizations' culture along the curve and give insights to the vision of zero injuries. 

Many people may assume that agriculture in general is exempt from OSHA standards. The truth is agriculture is not exempt from OSHA.  However, there is a small farms exemption. Understanding the exemption could be vital to your operation. Before we get into the exemption, lets first examine the General Duty Clause as it sets up the framework for understanding who is and who isn’t covered.

If you have a dairy operation in Wisconsin or upstate New York, or a pork production facility in Minnesota, or a feedlot in the plains states, you know that OSHA has been looking at you with greater intensity.   Other parts of the country are seeing similar increases in inspection activity.  States with their own OSHA agencies have regulations that are more strict than those of federal OSHA.  With Agriculture being the last high-risk industry that they haven’t targeted for significant improvements, it’s only logical that they would go here next.  Additionally, it is now commonplace for a disgruntled former employee to report specific infractions to these agencies in retaliation for perceived unfairness or mistreatment.  If you aren't compliant, just think of that inspector going through your operation with a checklist, ringing up expenses to you faster than a teenage girl using dad's credit card to shop for the prom. 

Earlier this week, we discussed the first fundamental reason for having someone on your staff—even if it’s you—dedicated to safety. Having a single point-person fulfill this role is critical to maintaining the clear, consistent communication that optimizes safety among your employees.